Division III Men

Eastern Knocks Off Swarthmore, 7-4

from press release

ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Eastern University Men's
Lacrosse opened their 2011 campaign with a 7-4 win over a solid
Swarthmore College team. Dave Darling scored three goals as the
Eagles jumped to a 7-1 lead and held on for the win. Darling opened
the scoring in the sixth minute with a blistering shot just inside
the the right pipe on a nice feed from fellow Californian Ron
Johnson. The Eagles double the edge in the 12th minute when Chris
Farrar caught a Zac Ivy pass in traffic and slid a low shot in from
just off the crease.

The Garnet cut the deficit in half when Wes Marcik rolled the
crease and slipped in a low shot for his first of two on the
afternoon. The period ended with the Eagles holding a 2-1 edge on
the scoreboard and an 8-4 advantage in shots.

Eastern built the lead back to 3-1 when Shawn Farmer tallied his
first collegiate goal on a 15 yard shot to the upper left corner of
the goal. Darling uncorked another missile in a man up situation to
build the edge to 4-1 with three minutes to play in the half.
Cameron Tough earned the assist.

The Eastern defense continued to control the action of the game
into the third period. Sophomore goalie Aaron Benz finished the
afternoon with 13 saves, and some of his biggest saves came in
keeping the sheet clean in the third period. The win over the
Garnet is the first in three tries for the Eastern program.
Swarthmore won the 2010 contest 8-2 over an Eastern team that
featured many first year players in the line-up.

"I think the intensity is so much better this year." Benz said,
" I haven't been able to sleep in 3 nights anticipating this game.
There is extra energy because it's the first game and because they
beat us so handedly last year." Will Johnson scored his first of
the year on a roll from behind the goal five minutes in. Farmer
made a big fake to clear space on the left side and walked into the
scoring area for his second of the day five minutes later. Darling
completed the hat trick on a shot from the crease on a pass from
Matt Soldano.

"We played fairly consistently, but we have a lot to work on,"
Darling said after the game, " It was the first time we have ever
won our first game of the year. It feels good to be able to look
forward right away. We knew that Swarthmore is very disciplined so
our goal was to limit their possession, which I thought we did. We
knew that would be difficult against a team like Swarthmore, but we
still hung on."

The Garnet won 67% of the face offs for the afternoon, and the
extra possessions looked as though they might take their toll in
the fourth as Zach Beldin and Marcik buried a pair of early goals
to cut the deficit to 7-3. The Eagles worked the possession and had
several near misses as the period progressed. The Garnet scored
their final goal of the game in a man up situation with 2:37 to
play.

"In the fourth quarter, we lacked the composure we needed," Benz
said of the close of the game, "It comes down to discipline and
communication. Coach told us that we need to practice more for the
last quarter, which I'm sure is what we'll start focusing on. "

Head Coach Brandon Childs was pleased with performance of his
team and with the overall atmosphere of the game. He referenced the
leadership of senior defender Matt Mandia and Benz, and remarked
about the excitement the crowd brought to the game. "We haven't had
opportunities to practice hanging onto a lead." he said, "We are a
young team, 30 of the 38 guys on our roster are either freshman or
sophomores. We need to master keeping our poise at the end of the
game, but that comes with experience.:"

"We lost our poise at the end." Childs continued, "In the fourth
quarter, it's easy to get tired. We will look to get our guys into
better shape so they can play the way they want to."

The Eagles (1-0), will have time to work out some of the kinks
before their next game which will be at the University of Mary
Washington on March 9.